Going undercover is a very dangerous part of police work. People mostly focus on the danger from the criminals, if discovered, part. But what about the whole psychological part of it?
Playing a double agent has got to be one of the most stressful things in the world.
The movie: In Too Deep, depicts that world really well.
It’s about a cop who infiltrates a criminal gang to the point that his identity almost gets erased. He almost can’t seperate the cop aspect of him from the criminal in the gang. His loyalties are torn between the two.
In some ways, asking cops to adapt in such an environment seems like cruel and unusual punishment.
If you’re taking your responsibilities/job so seriously that it results in self-destruction, is there something that is seriously wrong with that picture? Or are under cover cops sort of like soldiers who have chosen to sacrifice for their nation?
That was the question I was asking myself when I was watching the movie The Departed:
Was he naive and stupid for being talked into “sacrificing for the common wealth?”
Some people might say “that the fella should slow down and smell the flowers.” Some people might tell him that there is more to life than sacrificing your life away for any ideal.
Or is there something work sacrificing yourself for?
Should you sacrifice for your country? Your family? For world peace? For global warming? For God? For your church? For the love of your life? For your political party?
Are there things that are truly worth sacrificing for…that are worth destroying yourself over? Certainly, soldiers in armies all over the world are saying, “Yes!” every day by fighting and dying while following orders.
Why is that sacrifice superior or inferior over any other?
Yeah, we definitely need more cops who attempt to force their juniors to smoke hard drugs, shake down civilians for their drug money (to pocket), let attempted rapists run free in favor of their being hunted by vigilantes, murder unarmed informants for their drug money (to pocket) and then leave them to be butchered by hired gangsters.
You’re right, the movie was wrong in its message to young viewers that all of the above is bad. Thanks for showing us the light.
OHHH I gotta call bullshit on this one.. I love The Shield.. but Mackey? realistically? Nahh No chance you could partner up with some dudes willing to go to federal prison for one another.. Vic had so many balls in the air no one could expect to come out of shit like that.. all .. the.. time..
What are you talking about? How do you think cops are properly trained for their jobs? They are put under the charge of an experienced cop, just like in the movie. It just so happened that this cop was a murder, drug-dealer, and racketeer.
You seem to be treating this movie as some kind of documentary. You think it’s actually realistic for rookie cops to be taught to expect that they will be set up and murdered by their superiors on their first day on the job?
So are you saying that it’s ok for anyone to sacrifice themself…to the point of self-destruction…for whatever cause they please? And you’re ok with this?
You’re ok with someone like Leonardo Di Caprio’s character (William “Billy” Costigan Jr), in Departed, being innocently recruited to go serve “the people of the common wealth” to then…
I mean his handlers used the fact that he came from a broken, dysfunctional, criminal background, his intelligence and his good intentions (very different from the rest of his family)…against him.
You’re ok with this? You’re ok with him slowly, in the name of sacrificing for a greater cause, losing himself in the snake pit of Francis “Frank” Costello’s (Jack Nicholson’s character) gang? You’re ok with him suffering from such conflict due to the sacrifice that he is doing that he needs to take medications…just so he can live with himself and not get depressed? What about the excruciating inner conflict that this guy felt? That’s not yours or mine problem? The fact that this guy lost his identity, his life (what life? he had no life) all because his handlers kept insensitively forcing him to eat the vomit of his own unknowing self-deception. How screwed up is that?
All for what?
You expect me to be ok with this? I mean his handlers lost him to a criminal organization…to the point that he couldn’t come out. Billy had a chance for a bright future if he had pursued any other goal. But he destroyed himself in the name of the common good, without anything to show for it. He was a fool!
Would you wish this on your child? Or is it just that you’re ok with other people’s children sacrificing in this way?
So it’s ok for me to make another person to sacrifice for whatever cause I please…because…why? What gives me that level of arrogance?
Um, dude. It’s only a movie. And not even a hugely influential one at that.
Fiction. It is a difficult concept. In fiction an author will create unrealistic situations to explore the human condition. Or to just be entertaining. And you are obsessing on some pieces of entertainment as if they were intended as serious philosophical exercises or guides for living a moral life.
Relax and enjoy the pretty pictures and the absurd imaginary events.
We have people posting from all over the world, but the U.S. is the most-represented country.
I think you’re projecting your views about liberalism and society onto the movie. Which is fine, I guess, but how do you know cops are actually this underprepared? Because the movies say so? Ethan Hunt’s character is naive, but that’s an element of the story. Denzel’s character is not the example you want cops to follow in real life.
The rookie cop is resourceful, merciful, and his goal is to protect others. Alonzo’s goal is enriching himself and he views other people as expendable if they’re in the way. So yes, the movie is saying the rookie cop is more admirable. It’s pretty hard to argue that he isn’t. And I think “the path to hell is paved with good intentions” probably applies more to Alonzo- at least assuming that he originally wanted to be an effective cop and wound up compromising his ethics over and over until he dispensed with them entirely.
So are you saying that there are not people in the military and in the police forces that recruit naive and innocent children from poor backgrounds? And are movies and fiction not used to influence people’s ideas?
And is being a cop deep under cover…or a double agent…something like a unicorn or a fairy…that they are not found in reality?
Ok, well maybe I’m wrong then if you feel that the innocent and naive are never sacrificed for other people’s negligence, zeal, ignorance, or whatever.
No, nobody said anything like that. That’s because you didn’t mention anything about this idea, so there was no way for us to respond to it. I’m sure some people are naive when they enter the police and the military. That’s kind of what training is for. What does that have to do with the movie? The movie doesn’t celebrate naivete. The thing you’re supposed to admire about Helen Hunt/Howard Hawks/whatever is his commitment to the law and justice in a crazy situation. That can go hand in hand with naivete but it’s not the same thing. The point is that he remembers why he’s doing his job - to help other people - and Alonzo doesn’t.